Hatch cover for ore carrier and tanker



-Aug. 27, 1957 R.L.GRAY ETAL HATCH COVER FOR ORE CARRIER AND TANKERUrgnal Filed July 19, 1954 3 Shets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ROBERT L. GRAYJAMES J. HENRY THEIR ATTORNEYS Aug. 27, 1957 R. L. GRAY ETAL 2,804,039

HATCH COVER FOR ORE CARRIER AND TANKER I Original Filed July 19. 1954 5Sheets-Sheet 2 THElRATToRNl-:YS

Aug- 27, 1957 R. l.. GRAY ErAL R 2,804,039

` HATCH covER FoR @RE CARRIER AND TANRER Original Filed July 19. 1954 3Sheets-Sheet 3 lool e. 66 l .Il

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IRIVERTORS ROBERT L. GRAY JAMES J. HENRY THElR ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent() HATCH COVER non oRE CARRIER AND TANKER Robert L. Gray,Brooklyn, N. Y., and James J. Henry, Cranford, N. J., assignors to`American-Hawaiian Steamship Company (DeL), a corporation of Delaware,Ore Transport, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware, and J.J. Henry, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Originalapplication July 19, 1954, Serial No. 444,172.

Divided and this application December 13, 1954, Serial No. 474,736

3 Claims. (Cl. 114-203) This invention relates to improvements inhatches and hatch covers for cargo carrying ships and it relatesparticularly` to an improved form of hatch cover for oceangoing shipsfor carrying liquid and dry bulk cargoes se1ectively or simultaneously.

This is a division of our U. S. application Serial No. 444,172, tiledJuly 19, 1954.

Due to inherently different properties of dry bulk cargoes, such as ironore, bauxite, phosphates, coal, sugar and wheat, and liquid cargoes,such as gasoline, or bunker C oil, it is usual to provide entirelydifferent types of ships for transporting them. In other words, tankersfor transporting gasoline or other petroleum products are not designedor readily modified in any way to handle dry bulk cargoes. The tanks ofsuch tankers require different kinds of hatches, they must be providedwith bulkheads or the like to prevent sloshing of the liquid contents,they require piping for connection with pumps and the like which aretotally unusable for dry bulk cargoes and they, of course, must beprovided with eX- pansion trunks and the like to accommodate the changein volume of the liquid under different temperature conditions. Mostparticularly, their design is such that they cannot be cleaned to permitthe shipment interchangeably of the dry bulk cargoes, oil, gasoline andthe like.

In a like manner, ships designed for the transportation of dry bulkcargo, such as iron ore, have certain characteristics which render themunsuitable for transporting liquid cargoes. Due to the greater specificgravity or weight per cubic foot of iron ore as compared with petroleumproducts and the like, the arrangement of the cargo holds must be suchas to position the center of gravity so that proper stability of theship is attained. Usually, the iron ore holds are mounted relativelyhigh in the hull of the ship and near its center so as to give the shipa high Icenter of gravity and thereby avoid stiffness and excessivestability of the ship.

Some attempts have been made in the past to provide ships withfacilities for transporting both dry bulk cargoes and liquid cargoes.However, these prior attempts have not met with any success because offailure to depart from the prior practice with respect to the positionand shape of holds for the different types of cargoes. Thus, incombining dry bulk and liquid cargo carriers, the dry bulk or ore holdshave been mounted high in the ship and centrally to avoid excessivestability. Moreover, no one heretofore appears to have designed a typeof hold structure and hatch therefor that can be used with equalfacility for transporting and protecting dry bulk cargo .or liquidcargo. Hcretofore, the hatchways for liquid cargo carrying ships, suchas tankers, have been small and relatively easily sealed. Such smallhatches are not satisfactory for loading and discharging dry bulkcargoes and, of course, they present difliculties from the standpoint ofcleaning and maintenance of the hold, when the type of cargo is to bechanged. The large hatches used `.12,804,039 Patented Aug. 27, 1957 forloading and discharging dry bulk cargo cannot be used to seal the holdsand enable them to be used for liquid cargo.

The present invention involves a novel type hold structure and hatchstructure which enables dry bulk cargo or liquid cargo to be carried inthe same hold, selectively, and which is of such nature as to facilitatethe cleaning and maintenance of the holds.

Cargo `carrying ships of the type disclosed herein are capable ofhandling a full payload at the rated capacity of the vessel either indry bulk cargo or liquid cargo, or a. combination of both, withoutaltering the desired stability of the vessel to a degree rendering itunsatisfactory, in the least. In this way, maximum use can be made ofthe cargo carrying facilities of the ship and maximum economy in thetransportation of cargo is thereby obtained.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which: p

Fig. 1 is a plan view of our new hatch cover for a hold ICC of the ship;

Fig. 2 is a view in section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a View in section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

'Fig 5 is an isometric view of a sealing gasket used for rendering thehatchway weathertight; and

Fig. 6 is a schematic plan view of a system for opening and closing thehatches individually or simultaneously.

When using holds alternately or selectively for liquid or dry bulkcargoes, it is necessary to provide large hatch openings and, at thesame time, be able to seal these hatch openings to protect the materialsor cargo being transported.` When handling dry bulk cargo, such as oreand other materials that are unaffected or little affected by thepresence of small `amounts of water, a Watertight seal is all that isrequired for the hatch cover. On the other hand, when liquid cargoes arebeing carried, it has been found that an oiltight seal is essentialbecause otherwise the liquid cargo would leak out of the tanks onto thedeck, creating, in the case of petroleum products, a serious firehazard. Moisture can leak into such cargo as wheat and other grains orraw sugar and seriously damage such cargoes.

The problem of providing an oiltight seal capable of withstanding ahydrostatic pressure of about 10 feet on a hatch cover that weighsseveral tons and which has an expanse of approximately 20 feet is adifficult one. It has been found that such a hatch cover must beprovided with a double seal to render it essentially watertight andoiltight.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the hatch cover is shown as consistingof two sections 55 and 56 which are substantially identical, except forminor features, as pointed out hereinafter. Each hatch section, forexample the section 55, is generally rectangular in plan view and has aslightly domed upper surface 57, as shown in Fig. 2. The dome top 57 hason three sides downwardly extending anges 58, 59 and 60, forming thesides of the hatch cover. The other inner side 61 is open and confrontsa similar open side of the hatch cover section 56.

Mounted on the opposite sides 58 and v60 are pairs of jacks 63, 64 whichmay be hydraulically operated, or as shown, operated by screw shafts 65,to extend a wheel 66 into engagement with the deck of the ship or atrack 67 on each side of the hatchway to thereby lift up each hatchsection 5S, 56 and enable it to be rolled aside to uncover the mouth oropening of the hatch.

The hatch sections 55 and 56 cooperate` with the hatch coaming 41 toaffect a seal. Referring to Fig. 3, the

hatch coaming 41 is provided with a transverse plate 70 which extendscompletely around the coaming and carries a rib or bar 71 having arounded upper edge extending upwardly toward the hatch covers and 56.Mounted inside the walls or llanges 58, 59 and d0 is an angle ironforming a downwardly opening channel 73 that receives a gasket 74 formedof neoprene or the like. The relation of the bar 71 and the gasket 74 issuch that when the hatch sections are lowered into contact with theplate on the coaming, the bar 71 indents the gasket 74 and therebyprovides a watertight seal. It will be understood that the gasket 74 isin part carried by the hatch section 55 and in part carried by the hatchsection 56.

As shown in Fig. 5, the gasket 74 is made up of a U-shaped section 75carried by hatch section 56, having a base 75a and two side arms 75b and75C. The other section of the gasket 74 is carried byhatch section 55and is madeup of a part 76 having a base 76a, two arms 76b and 76c'and abridge section 76d which, as shown in Fig. 4 is carried in a channel 80extending around inside the open end 61 of the hatch section 55. Theportion 76d of the gasket cooperates with a rib or bar'Sl which iscarried on a flange 82 extending inwardly around the open end of thehatch section 56. In this way, the two sections 75 and 76 of the gasket74 are in abutting engagement when the hatch sections are closed butseparate when the hatch sections 55 and 56 are pulled apart.

In order to hold the hatch sections in position, they may be providedwith laterally extending flanges 84 extending around them and havingnotches 85 therein to receive the hinged quick-acting locking bolts ordogs 86 that are pivotally mounted in U-shaped brackets 87 fixed to thedeck or to an extension -of the coaming. The dogs 86 are relativelywidely spaced around the periphery of the hatch cover. The structurethus far described is entirely satisfactory for rendering the hatchcovers watertight when transporting dry cargo or cargo which is notdamaged by small amounts of moisture. When, however, the hatch is to besealed when used for transporting liquids, a second sealing gasket 90 isprovided.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the gasket 90 is interposed between llange 70and an overlying portion 91 of the flange 84. These flanges arecontinuous, except for holes therein to receive clamping bolts 92. Inshape, the gasket 90 is very similar to the gasket 75, with theexception that it is llat and relatively thin in cross section in orderto tit between the anges 70 and 91 and between the opposed tlanges 94and 95 which extend around the open, opposing ends of the hatch sections55-and 56. A series of the bolts 92 which are spaced apart at intervalsof only 6 to l() inches around all of the edges of the hatch sections 55and 56 clamp the hatch cover sections to the coaming with the gasket 90therebetween. When all of the bolts 92 are drawn up tight, the gasket 90is compressed tightly between the flanges on the hatch covers and thecoaming and the flanges on the confronting ends of the hatch section toprovide an absolutely liquidtight seal. In this way, the hatches can berendered oiltight and satisfactory for transporting gasoline, bunker Cand many other liquid products or cargoes.

Due to the fact that the hatch covers are extremely heavy, provision hasbeen made for mechanical movement of the hatches individually orcollectively to open and closed position. As shown in Fig. 6, a cable islooped over pulleys 101, 102 at each side of the hatches with the innerflight of the cable connected to hatch section 55 and the outer llightof the cable connected to hatch section 56. The intermediate portions ofthe cable are passed over suitable pulleys 103, 104, etc. and may beWound around a winch drum. As the winch is operated, the hatch coversare moved in opposite directions, to move them apart or bring themtogether, after they have been raised onto their supporting wheelsl 66.If desired, all of the hatch covers can be'connected into a mainoperating cable 105 and to a common winch 106 so that all of the hatchcovers can be opened or closed simultaneously, as may be desired.

It will be understood, of course, that manually operated means may beprovided also for moving the hatch covers or that individual electricmotors or the like may be provided for operating the individual hatchcovers.

From the preceding description, it will be apparent that we haveprovided a hatch construction which is capable of sealing the holds of aship to enable it to handle bulk or liquid cargoes simultaneously orselectively, thus greatly facilitating the use of a single cargocarrying ship for handling almost any desired type of cargo that may beencountered in the various ports that the ship may enter. Adequatefacilities are provided for stowing the cargo in such a manner as tomaintain the ship properly stable whether fully loaded or only partlyloaded and whether loaded with dry or liquid cargo, or both.

It will be understood that the principles of hatch construction involvedmay be adapted to large or small ships depending upon `the requirementsand the use to which the ship is to be put. Therefore, the form of theinvention described herein is to be considered as illustrative and notas limiting the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

l. A hatch coaming and cover for rendering a hatch opening water-tightcomprising a hatch coaming extending around a hatch opening, asubstantially horizontal flange around the top of said coaming, a ribmember extending upwardly from said llange and around said coaming, ahatch cover comprising two sections, each adapted to cover aboutone-half of said opening, a gasket carried by and extending peripherallyaround each cover section for engagement with said rib member, saidcover sections having open 'confronting sides, a gasket portionextending around the open side of one of said sections, a rib member atthe open side of the other cover section engageable with said gasketportion, llanges extending around the faces of said cover sections andadapted to overlie said coaming flange in substantially parallelrelation thereto, other flanges extending around the open sides of saidcover sections, a sealing gasket interposed between said llanges, meansfor releasably clamping said cover sections and coaming together withsaid rib members engaging said gaskets and gasket portion and with saidflanges in liquid-tight relation to said sealing gasket.

2. The hatch coaming and cover set forth in claim kl comprising jacks atopposite sides of each cover section of said hatch cover to lift saidcover sections and wheels movable to support said cover sections toenable them to be rolled aside to uncover said hatch opening, cableshaving separate flights connected to dlllerent cover sections, and winchmeans for moving said cables to roll said cover sections in oppositedirections into positions covering and uncovering said hatch opening.

3. A hatch coaming and cover for rendering a hatch opening water-tightcomprising a hatch coaming extending completely around a hatch opening,a rib member extending upwardly from said coaming, and extendingcompletely around said opening, a hatch cover comprising two hatch coversections each adapted to cover about one-half of said hatch opening,said cover sections having tops and downwardly extending side wallsaround three sides thereof, each-cover section having an open sideconfronting the other 'cover section, aV gasket mounted on thc loweredge of the side walls of one of said cover sections, a gasket mountedat the lower edge of the side walls 'of the other cover section, saidgaskets being engageable with each other and the rib when the coversections are brought together to cover said opening, one of said gasketshaving a section extending around the edges of the open side of oneV ofthe `cover sections, and a rib member extending around the edges of theopen side of the other cover section to engage the gasket section, rstreleasable means for clamping said cover sections to said coaming andsaid cover sections to each other to hold said rib and rib member inengagement with said gaskets and gasket section, anges extendinglaterally from the lower edges of the side walls and the open sides ofsaid cover sections, complemental flanges extending laterally from theupper edges of said coarning, another gasket interposed between theanges on said cover sections and the anges in said coarning, and second,more closely spaced means for detachably clamping the flanges againstsaid another gasket to form an oil-tight seal.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,835,856 Fliegel Dec. 8, 1931 6 King Feb. 27, 1940 Dawson et al Mar.19, 1940 Farrell Aug. 2l, 1951 Farrell May 10, 1955 Sabin July 10, 1956FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 3, 1937

